Nov. 30 Update: Our expected ship date has moved from December 10 to December 19. We apologize for any inconvenience.

Contains an exclusive 7-inch single: J Dilla “The Sickness” feat. Nas, produced by Madlib. Vocal b/w Instrumental. Only available in this package.

Pay Jay Productions (PJ011), an official product of the Estate of James Yancey.

This turntable was designed to be portable, but functions as a stand alone record player and can plug into any stereo system that accepts an RCA jack or a USB output. It also allows you to record music directly into your computer (transcription software disc included in package). It also contains a 1/8″ headphone jack and dynamic, full range stereo speakers. It comes with a replacement stylus and a 45 adaptor. Artwork by Mason London.

Portable turntables have been around since not long after the invention of the turntable itself. Everyone who buys records on the road should have one, and most do. Madlib has ten! Here’s a few from our collection, including the new Dilla Turntable.

Saturday, October 29, 12-7PM: Mr. Bongo’s global record collection sale. Open to the public.

RAPPCATS
5636 York Blvd, Los Angeles CA 90042

Dave ‘Mr Bongo’ Buttle began digging in Venezuela 30 years ago; filling up suitcases with amazing latin records to bring back to Europe. It has continued ever since – in warehouses in the US, to dusty back street shops in South America, houses and garages in Africa, and lesser known spots in Europe and Asia. This led to several successful record shops in central London, plus one in the heart of Shibuya, Tokyo; first to stock the likes of Rawkus, Def Jux and Stones Throw outside the US.

Now the shops are gone, the label lives on, releasing & reissuing the finest funky music from around the world. Mr,. Bongo are currently issuing a marvelously restored version of Arthur Verocai’s self-titled masterpiece of Brasilian 70s music, with blessing from the man himself. It’s the closest one can get to listening to the original Continental Brasil pressing without dropping thousands of dollars.

Mr Bongo is coming to LA for a special pop up at Rappcats – a celebration of the Arthur Verocai reissue with Egon, Mr. Bongo himself and a host of other collectors spinning Brasilian and global grooves on Friday October 28th and a pop up shop focusing on hundreds of choice records Mr. Bongo culled over 37 years of collecting on Saturday October 29th.

Numero Group, one of our favorite reissue labels, and the source of an endless amount of Madlib samples, is bringing their factory outlet to Los Angeles for a three-day stint at Rappcats. Expect nearly every extant Numero title to be on display, Numero’s private stash of rarities, and hundreds of vintage and rare LP’s and 45s personally culled by label head Rob Sevier. Sevier is one of the world’s foremost authorities on American soul and funk music and a helluva collector. His collaborative efforts with Egon and Now-Again include Loving On The Flipside, Enjoy the Experience and a forthcoming joint album scheduled for Record Store Day 2017, which we will be announcing soon.

Saturday BONUS, 2PM: Ned Doheny in-store performance. Dublab will be broadcasting LIVE from Rappcats on Friday on Saturday. Rob Sevier will also appear at Funkmosphere @ The Virgil, Oct. 13th, and in-store at Itasca at 5PM, Oct. 14th.

Update: SOLD OUT – Limited edition of 1000, hand-numbered 12-inch vinyl. Kanye West produced version of “The Anthem” & Dilla’s alt. vocal version of “Fuck the Police.” Expected ship date October 11th.

When J Dilla turned in a demo of his solo album to MCA Records in 2002, he did so on a CDR that he labeled The Middle Finger. We’re going to have to guess what he meant by that – it doesn’t seem to have been a working title for the record, so maybe he was telling the A&R staff what he cared of their intervention into his creative process? Or was it what he thought about having to show the label a progress report?

For lack of a finished album, that CDR – stripped of “Fuck the Police” – was turned into an MCA promo CD, with one of those stark, black and white tray cards in a jewel case and a laser-printed label. By that time the album was being called Pay Jay, and it circulated at around the same time that Wendy Goldstein – the exec that had signed Dilla to MCA – left the label. Dilla was left in a lurch, the album was shelved and he was eventually released from his contractual obligations to MCA.

That demo/promo CD was leaked, and it became the basis of numerous bootlegs, all sourced from low-bit rate, 128 KBPS MP3 files. Dilla hadn’t even kept the original files in his archived sessions in Detroit.

That CDR – the original CDR, the actual “Middle Finger” – still existed. It was found in a storage unit, in a pile of other major-label leftovers, and it barely played. The CD’s reflective paint was chipping off, rendering it all but unusable. Two tracks – which never made it to The Diary – did play, and they came off that CD in full resolution. Those were Dilla’s two-track mixes of the Kanye West version of “The Anthem” and his album version of “Fuck The Police,” featuring an alternate vocal performance. This single comes from those files, and completes The Diary.

Update: SOLD OUT | Exclusive, limited-edition DJ Shadow 12-inch single left over from our Shadow popup shop this past weekend.

The event is over, but here’s the original story:

DJ Shadow will be at Rappcats in Los Angeles on Saturday and Sunday, September 10-11, selling used vinyl, tapes, posters from his collection, and a new, exclusive, limited-edition vinyl: “The Sideshow”

Collectors, dealers, fans, come one, come all to The First Annual DJ Shadow Storage Sale. Shadow’s not selling his collection, but he is pulling back the curtain on a brace of dupes he’s managed to process over the last few years. Expect a strange and broad assortment of lesser-seen vinyl in all genres, most offered under $15, and with an effort to price well below established online value. “This is a chance for producers, dealers, and DJ’s to access seldom-seen and eclectic vinyl at affordable prices,” says Shadow. “These are all records I have other copies of, and I’ve decided that I don’t need to keep multiples. Think of it as a year-long thrift-store hunt consolidated into two days.”

Shadow has also found some unsold “new/old” stock of his own projects, many of which were only ever sold through his web-store. Vinyl, CDs, DVDs…even VHS tapes, all-Shadow related and sold on a first come, first served basis. The man himself will of course be on hand to sign anything and everything, or just to say hello.

In addition, there’s the outliers: good music in unfairly ignored formats such as 8-Track, reel-to-reel, and cassette. “Vinyl is so fetishised, but I actually covet other formats equally,” says Shadow. Explaining further, he adds, “For example, ideally, I would want James Brown’s Payback album on reel, cassette, and 8-track in addition to vinyl. If it existed as a first-run consumer product, I need it in my collection.” If this logic appeals to you, then you’ll be interested in checking out these format oddities.

Love music? Love records? Love hanging out with cool folks? Then you’ll have a good time at The First Annual DJ Shadow Storage Sale. See you there!

One of the great psychedelic rock albums is finally back in print on vinyl in a band-licensed reissue. Its roots are in Puerto Rican teenage garage rockers; it was recorded in the Dominican Republic at the high-point of the flower power era; it was only ever pressed in a miniscule run in Mexico in 1969.

Now one of the most sought after rock artifacts on the planet, Kaleidoscope is remastered and reissued with an extensive, photo-filled booklet with the story of the band and their album by historian Enrique Rivas Viniegra.

Madlib Medicine Show is a music series the producer began in late 2009 as the official launch of his label Madlib Invazion. 13 CDs and 7 LPs were released in the series. Odd numbers (#1,3,5,7,9,11) are original Madlib productions (hip-hop, remix, beat tape and jazz). Even numbers (#2,4,6,8,10). are mixtapes of funk, soul, Brazilian, psych, jazz and other undefined forms of music from the Beat Konducta’s 4-ton* stack of vinyl. Madlib Medicine Show #12 and 13 are hip-hop remixes by Madlib.

THE BRICK ON CD compiles all 13 CD releases. The 2016 edition of The Brick has all CDs, each in 4-panel digipack sleeves, in a single box. THE BRICK ON VINYL compiles all of the odd-number, original works.

If you are one of the few who have known about MF DOOM’s debut album since the year it first dropped, you’ll know there’s been a few versions of the album to come out. There’s been bonus tracks, bootlegs, CDs, tapes, and even a lunch box edition.

But here’s the thing about Operation Doomsday: It’s a hip-hop classic. Those who don’t have it, need it. The record keeps selling out, and they keep making more. Just like The Beatles, if the Beatles came to destroy rap.

The album originally came out in ’99 on Fondle ‘Em Records. In 2011, Doom’s own label Metalface Records began officially reissuing the album. In that year, a new cover was made, featuring art and design by Jason Jagel & Jeff Jank, who also handled Doom’s MM FOOD. Both editions of Doomsday are now being released on vinyl, each with 2/LP red & black vinyl, and a 18 x 24-inch poster.

“Gas Drawls” video: Animator Dustooned created a video for “Gas Drawls,” taking inspiration from Doom’s album artwork, including much of Jason Jason illustrations for MM Food and the Metalface version of Operation Doomsday. The animation was created independently, and got the Doom stamp of approval just last week.

Animator Dustooned created a video for “Gas Drawls,” taking inspiration from Doom’s album artwork, including much of Jason Jason illustrations for MM Food and the Metalface version of Operation Doomsday. The animation was created independently, and got the Doom stamp of approval just last week.